Yemen

A besieged government and its supporters retaliated fiercely against journalists covering the months
of popular protests that sought an end to
President Ali Abdullah Saleh's rule. Authorities detainedlocal
journalists, expelledinternational reporters, and confiscated newspapers in an effort to
silence coverage, while government supporters and
plainclothes agents assaulted media workers in the field. Two journalists covering anti-government protests were killed by
gunfire, one by security forces who fired live ammunition to disperse a
demonstration, the other by a snipersuspected to have been
acting on behalf of the government. The
government singled out Al-Jazeera in a months-long effort to silence its coverage. In March, plainclothes agents raided the station's Sana'a bureau, confiscating equipment. The raid followed the expulsion of two Al-Jazeera correspondents. Days later, authorities ordered Al-Jazeera's
offices shut and its journalists stripped of accreditation. Other newsrooms were
under direct fire. Armed men in civilian clothes
tried to storm the offices of the
independent daily Al-Oula, seriously wounding
an editorial trainee, while military forces shelled the Yemeni satellite broadcaster
Suhail TV, whose staff endured numerous other threats and detentions. In a rebuke to the regime, the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to renowned Yemeni press freedom activist Tawakul Karman, chairwoman of Women Journalists Without Chains, along with two female African leaders.

Jamal al-Sharaabi, a photojournalist for the independent weekly Al-Masdar, was shot by security forces dispersing demonstrations in March. Hassan al-Wadhaf, a cameraman for the Arabic Media
Agency, died of injuries sustained when he was shot by a sniper at an
anti-government protest in Sana'a.

Media fatalities in the region in 2011:

Several journalists were expelled for their coverage of the popular uprising. CPJ recorded eight expulsions between March 14 and 19, a period of particularly intense public
protests:

2 on March 13: Reporter Patrick Symmes and photographer Marco Di Lauro, on assignment
for Outside, a U.S.-based travel and
adventure magazine4 on March 14: Oliver Holmes, a contributor to The Wall Street
Journal and Time magazine; Haley
Sweetland Edwards, a contributor to the Los Angeles Times; Joshua Maricish, a photographer; and Portia Walker, a
contributor to The Washington
Post2 on March 19: Al-Jazeera correspondents Ahmad Zeidan and Abdel Haq Sadah

In May, security
forces seized 12,000 copies of Al-Oula, an independent daily, and burned them at a military checkpoint. Authorities used newspaper seizures as a tactic to
silence coverage of anti-government demonstrations.

Other confiscations:

8,000

Copies of the independent weekly Al-Yaqeen

3,000

Copies of the independent weekly Al-Ahali

3,000

Copies of the independent weekly Hadith al-Madina

CPJ recorded numerous assaults against journalists
covering anti-government demonstrations. Many
journalists also saw their equipment confiscated or destroyed.

In October, security forces arrested Abd al-Karim Thail, editor of the news website 3feb,
which focused on coverage of the country’s
unrest. No charges had been disclosed by late year.

Abdulelah Hider Shaea, a frequent Al-Jazeera commentator and critic of
the government’s counterterrorist tactics,
continued serving a five-year
prison term on antistate charges. Antistate charges
are commonly used against critical journalists worldwide.